Microscopic beauty

Top Prize Winner

First Prize in the 41st Annual Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition was awarded to Australian Ralph Claus Grimm for capturing an amazing close-up of the eye of a honey bee covered in dandelion pollen.

Grimm, a high school teacher from Queensland, self-taught microscopist and former bee keeper, was recognized along with more than 80 other international winners. He hopes his image can serve as a voice for this endangered insect that plays such a critical function in pollinating the world's crops.

Read on to see more winning images from the competition.

Credit: Ralph Claus Grimm/Courtesy Nikon Small World

2nd Place

An image of the colon of a mouse that was born germ-free, or completely sterile of microbes. The mouse was colonized with a human microbiota.